The next generation.

Above: Ruby wearing my new bike helmet. Sporty!
We just got back from celebrating my birthday at Priest Lake. Taryn and Amelia came, and our friends Mark and Shannon from college and their baby, Raleigh. And Elizabeth and Nathan with Oliver. For those of you keeping track, that's FOUR mobile, unsteady, imprudent one-year-olds. It was a little chaotic at times, but all in all, everyone had a good time.
Especially while our toddlers were asleep.
I felt honored that so many of my friends would travel hours and hours with screaming 18-month-olds to help me celebrate my first 30. I don't even want to think of all the parental principles that were broken just to survive the car rides. We alone let Ruby eat gumdrops and watch DVDs, and I personally fed Amelia her first french fries to keep her pleasant during the last hour of Taryn's drive. Who knows what other good intentions were sacrificed for backseat tranquility.
It was also special to me to see Ruby having fun at the lake, since Priest Lake is where I spent my summers growing up and the place I love most. Ruby was a good swimmer -- even JUMPING off the dock into Nate's arms at one point.

Here are some of the highlights:
Nate and Ruby on a cocktail cruise. That's Julie, my parents' neighbor both at the lake and at home, behind them.


Here are a couple of cute photos of Ruby playing in the sand.

and with Taryn and Amelia:

And here we are on the boat practicing with the safety whistle. Ruby does not understand blowing into whistles, but she likes to put them in her mouth and make the high-pitched noise with her voice.

race fan

I personally can't get enough of funny photos of babies in hats. Ruby's been sporting this yellow hat a lot the last couple of weeks. Here she is getting ready to go to the lake for a swim:

We woke Ruby up early last weekend so I could race in a triathlon. She's actually a pretty good race fan. But it took her awhile to adjust to the idea that she was out of bed so early:

While I raced, she and Nate played in the water and ran around in the grass. (That's basically what I was doing the whole time, too, only with more technical gear). Here we are after the race-- Ruby's trying to get another bite of my post-race chocolate muffin and purple Gatorade.... yum!

And here's one of us posing before the swim.

Daddy's girl

Here's a photo of Ruby and Nate on Father's Day. And yes, Ruby did make him that awesome visor.

Nate's in Salt Lake City helping Robbie Kozinski build his cabin in the woods, so Ruby and I have had the weekend to ourselves. On Saturday, Ruby slept in until after 9. She and I are not morning people. I had hoped, for her sake, that she would get the morning-person gene from her dad so she could go around acting smug and refreshed all the time, like morning people do, but she wakes up scowling and dragging her blankie around. Here she is this morning (since Nate was not here, we slept in --again -- and went to the late service at church). This is about as cheerful as she gets before breakfast.

Yesterday my friend Jennifer and I took Ruby to the zoo. Here Jen and Ruby are consulting the map so we could find the flamingoes:

And there they go off to see them.

Eating out, eating in.

Ruby's into pointing out babies lately, which always reminds me that she's not a baby anymore. Doesn't she look big in this picture, waiting to order at a restaurant?


We used to own a baby-sized fork, and we left it in Kansas. We haven't managed to buy another. As a result of our forgetfulness combined with our laziness, Ruby's been eating with a big-person fork at dinner.
We were cracking up the other night watching her try to navigate this chicken pot pie into her mouth. It would be like trying to eat dinner with a fork the length of your arm. Not easy.

Middle America

The day before we left for our trip to Kansas City for Nate's cousin Chris's graduation, Ruby tripped on the playground and scratched up her nose. You can see the injury in this photo of her chowing down on Kansas City-style barbecue:


And here she is with Alysha:
We had a great trip. Nate's parents and a bunch of other relatives and friends were there for the festivities. It's hot in Kansas. In some ways, it was like visiting a giant sauna -- but with bbq wings and beer and chocolate cake, and the thrilling sensation that at any moment, a tornado might blow the roof off.
Here's Ruby snuggled up with her airline pillow. This is how you want your toddler to travel. Most of the time, she didn't.

This is the way the ladies ride...

Ruby loves to ride on our knees while we recite that game about the ladies/ gentlemen/ cowboys: "this is the way the ladies ride," etc. But you don't need to worry about gender stereotypes suppressing her inner cowgirl.

This is the way the Ruby rides:

Here are a couple other photos we took in the backyard the other day. It was hot!

Refreshment:

And art:

Record-low rates

Lest you think my Mother's Day was all parade waves and handprints, I should add that Ruby has been carrying around our mortgage broker's business card, pointing to his picture and saying, "Mama."
Don't get me wrong: our broker was efficient and got us a great rate. Referrals are an important part of his business, so he sent us a whole stack of cards. But after going through all that trouble of giving birth, the sleepless nights, the spit-up, the pureeing of vegetables and nose-wiping... I had hoped for a little more consideration from my own daughter on Mother's Day weekend.